


Piloting Life

by LillianShereen



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Veer-Zaara (2004)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-08
Updated: 2015-02-08
Packaged: 2018-03-11 01:49:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3311096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LillianShereen/pseuds/LillianShereen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An Au where a pilot saves a girl and his life is forever changed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Piloting Life

**Author's Note:**

> This is definitely an AU. Names will be screwed up and customs will be weird, but stick with it. This isn't edited, so mistakes are mine. (Please point them out so I can fix them). 
> 
> These are not my characters, as much as I like to play puppet master with them.
> 
> Follow me on tumblr: fancy--face.tumblr.com

**Oliver**

 

Oliver turns slowly, feeling the wind in his hair and the spring leaves fly past him. He begins walking, admiring the picturesque view of the mountains and their emerald green valleys. Feeling a sudden urge, he begins to run and jump around in a way he hadn’t done since he was a child. He notices a lake nearby with a boat sitting on the shore. He jumped into the boat, pushes off and relaxes into it.

He notices a girl. One with long blond hair that flows in the wind, wearing the most beautiful earrings, playing with a scarf she has on. She is in one of the wildflower fields, switching between admiring the flowers and just running her hands through them, looking so carefree with this smile that had this certain spark to it, that intrigues Oliver.

Oliver started walking towards this girl who has invaded all his senses. He has never seen her before and yet everywhere he looks, he sees her face. He has never heard her voice and yet it was all he could hear.

He stops, and stares for a moment. There she is, standing just a field away, looking at him. Watching him. He needs to know her. He needs to talk to her and understand the spark in her smile, and learn how to make her do that all the time. Every cell in his body was propelling him towards her. 

He begins to run towards her, getting faster as he saw her run towards him. They ran and Oliver dreamed up all the things their lives could hold. Would they be friends, or more than. How many kids would they have? Who would she marry? Did she have siblings or was she an only child. The closer they got the more questions he had for her.

100 feet. 50 feet. 30 feet. They were almost there.

 

Gunshot

 

Oliver watched as the girl violently fell to the ground.

 

\---

 

Oliver awoke, feeling light headed with his sudden change of position. His hair was in his eyes as he took in deep breaths, and felt the sweat roll down his back. He looked around him gathering his bearings. Shaken by his dream, he had for a moment forgotten that he was in a jail cell, but a quick look at the bars on his door had reaffirmed where he was.

Oliver, still shaken, got up, and keeping his blanket wrapped around him, headed towards the pitcher of water that had been laid out for him. There was a commotion outside. Sounds that had become familiar to him over time, but not ones that gave him a sense of home.

They were sounds of a foreign city. A foreign country.

\----

**Laurel**

 

Laurel Lance sat in front of her father’s grave, arranging the flowers that she had brought him with the ones others had left. Laurel traced the engravings on the tombstone. Quentin Lance, Respected Captain of the Central City Police Department, and beloved father of Laurel Lance.

“Hi daddy. Today your dreams for me are coming true. Today is my first case. You spent your entire life devoted to finding the truth and capturing those who broke the law, and now today I will follow in your footsteps. In a slightly different position with me being a lawyer. Wish me luck daddy.”

Laurel got up, softly ran her hand over her father’s tombstone, and then resolutely walked towards the exit. A quick glance at her watch told her that she was right on schedule.

\--

Laurel sat in the police station filling out a stack of documents that should have terrified her but didn't, because Laurel Lance was a board certified lawyer. Paperwork was her room and board. Besides these pig-headed cops weren't going to get any whining out of her. Currently Officer Palmer was asking his junior a question.

“Officer Khan, do you know how to cook?” He asked. He was watching Laurel fill out her paperwork, not seeming to trust that she could do them properly, and that he would have to do more work, fixing her mistakes.

Officer Khan hesitated for a moment, before replying, “No sir, the wife cooks.”

“Well it looks like you better learn. Cause it looks like women are starting to do men’s jobs. You never know when you’ll have to sleep on an empty stomach.”

Laurel signed her last document, resolutely closed the folder and with steel in her eyes handed it to Officer Palmer. A feminist she was, and it irked her that she wouldn’t speak her mind, but she also knew that if she pissed off these officers, she would never get near her client, despite the fact the she had all the paperwork. “May I speak to the prisoner now?”

Officer Palmer quickly palmed through the paperwork and sighed. “Of course you can. It’s your right Miss Lawyer.” The snark was there and it bothered her so much. “Well let’s go. I’ll even escort you there myself. This way I get to spend a little more time with you.”

Ugh.

Walking down the corridor of cells, Palmer kept up his talking. “Don’t be offended, miss, but you’re wasting your time. This man has been here for 22 years, but to this day, no one has heard him utter a single word. We think he is very happy here. Never fights, never complains, seems like he doesn’t want to be free at all.” Palmer gave a little chuckle at that.

“Freedom is every person’s birthright and it’s my duty to see that he gets it.” Laurel looked at Palmer and gave him a little smile. “You do your duty and let me do mine.” And with that the smile was gone and her steely look was back.

They stopped in front of a cell and Officer Palmer began to antagonize him. He was telling him about her, but in the most rude way possible. But Laurel tuned him out because all she had was eyes on the prisoner. He was crouched in front of his bed, his blanket wrapped around his shoulder like a shawl. He had what seemed to be a bracelet in his hand and he was just staring at it. His expression remained blank as if he didn’t hear or understand what was being said to him.

Officer Palmer looked over at Laurel. “What did I tell you?” He looked as if this would be enough evidence for Miss Lance to get off this case.

Laurel, with eyes only for the prisoner said, “Open the cell.” Surprise flashed over Palmer's face as he stared incredulously at Laurel. “I want to talk to him alone.”  
Palmer sighed. “Well you’ve signed all the paperwork, so what do I care.” He opened the door, and moved aside as Laurel walked in. She heard the door shut close and lock click. “Now I’ve done my duty and now you can do yours.” With that he walked away.

Laurel stood in front of the prisoner, feeling cramped in the tiny cell. All her preparing and researching hadn’t actually taught her how she would feel when she was standing in front of a client. She had most definitely never thought she would feel awkward.

Taking a page straight out of middle school, she told him they would start with their names. “I’m Laurel Lance and you are?” Silence. It was as if he hadn’t even noticed she was in the room with her. “Do you want me to call you The Arrow, like everyone one else here does? Your name can’t be that bad that you prefer The Arrow to it?” Again no response. Laurel thought for a moment, and said. “Oliver Queen.”

Laurel saw his head twitch, and his eyes move towards her. “It’s been ages, hasn’t it, since you’ve heard your own name.” Oliver clenched his jaw and looked away. “Oliver Queen, please talk to me. I’ve come to help you.” She started walking towards him.

“22 years you remained silent. And no one could defend you. Today, you are getting another chance. Talk to me and I promise to get you back to your country. To your city. Please talk to me. Please.”

She sat down next to him. “I don’t know why you don’t want your freedom. But I want you to know why your freedom is important for me and other girls of this country. My father fought his entire life for women’s rights but he couldn’t do as much as he wanted. Today, after years of hard work, I have finally earned my first solo case. But everyone knows it’s impossible to win this case, because you won't talk. They want me to lose so that no woman will tread into this male domain again. But I am not going to lose. I am going to honor my father’s dream and will fight for the women of this country. I just need your help. Talk to me. Please talk to me. Talk to me Oliver Queen.”

At the sound of his name, Oliver Queen turned his head and looked straight into Laurel Lance’s green eyes. He saw the tears and looked away, slightly shaking his head. Laurel took that as refusal and quickly wiped her eyes and gathered her things. She looked over at Oliver a last time, and saw him staring out the window, listening to the sound of a low-flying plane that had caught his attention. She walked towards the cell ready to call for Officer Palmer to let her out.

“That’s an F 16 flying at the speed of 1200mph.” Whirling around at the sound of a much disused male voice, she saw Oliver Queen talking, finally. Quickly she pulled out her voice recorder and sat down next to Oliver catching him in mid-sentence.

“…no one but a pilot can understand that feeling. I can still feel my hands throbbing, the blood rushing, and the winds blowing, whenever I would take my helicopter into the mountains.”

 

**22 years earlier**

Oliver sat in his helicopter looking over the snow covered mountaintops. He was sitting next to his partner John Diggle, and they were trying to locate a couple of skiers who had been injured and reported missing. Dig pointed out a flash of red that was disturbing the white landscape, and he turned the helicopter towards that direction. Oliver saw that one of the skiers was lying on the ground and another was trying to signal the helicopter. Dig flew the helicopter into position overhead the skiers and Oliver propelled down to save them.

This was Oliver and this was his life. Squadron Leader Oliver Queen. A rescue pilot with the US Air Force. Oliver loved his work, because flying had been a childhood fantasy, and saving people’s lives was his father’s legacy. His father had been Special Forces and had given his life for the country.

Oliver was alone and free, and he lived every moment as if it were the last. Little did he know that in three days his life was going to change because of a girl who, at that moment, was asleep in a different country.

**Author's Note:**

> This is an Veer-Zaara AU. For those who don't know what Veer-Zaara is, well it's my favorite Bollywood movie ever. I decided that Olicity needs to get international a bit.


End file.
